Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

The American Academy of Pediatrics is asking the FDA to require warning labels on foods that are choke hazards, and for the FDA to evaluate and monitor food for safety. The wisdom in this is offered by Dr. Gary Smith, an Ohio doctor who is the lead author of the pediatricians’ policy statement on food hazards:

You have a SuperBall that by government regulation has to carry warnings telling people it’s a risk to young children and you can’t market it to them, yet you can have the same identical shape and size gumball and there are no restrictions or requirements.

Makes a lot of sense to me. You can find the New York Times story here.

These are interesting car accident statistics for Wisconsin. The author of this editorial uses these statistics to underscore this theme that there is no tort reform crisis in Wisconsin that needs to be resolved.

The Michigan Supreme Court was asked to determine last week whether a plaintiff satisfied the notice of intent requirement under Michigan law when her malpractice lawyers mailed the notice of intent to file a claim to the doctor's prior address. The doctor did not receive the notice until after the deadline.

The Michigan high court decided to elevate form over substance, concluding that plaintiff satisfied the mandates of MCL 600.2912b(2) because the statute states that proof of mailing constitutes prima facie evidence of compliance with Michigan law.

You can read the full opinion here.

• Average Verdicts in Michigan
• Summary of Michigan Malpractice Law

Federal district court judge Anne Conway intends to send thousands of federal Seroquel lawsuits back to local district courts for trial.

The vast majority of Seroquel lawsuits filed in federal court have been consolidated in Florida in an MDL, which is a mini class action for discovery purposes. With core discovery completed, the cases will return to the local district courts where they are appropriately venued for trial.

Defendants have been victorious in resolving most of the early Seroquel cases, including a defense verdict at trial. But, now, cases are going to start getting tried all over the country. I think this will lead to a global settlement of most of the Seroquel lawsuits because I'm convinced that the folks at AstraZeneca and their lawyers are smart enough to know their hot streak of Seroquel victories cannot last. But it is also possible that AstraZeneca is going to do what drug companies on a roll often do: overplay their hand. If it does this, it might require plaintiffs' victories in Seroquel cases before AstraZeneca starts to make reasonable offers. But if the tide turns, the settlement value of the Seroquel cases is going to increase exponentially.

Target today recalled 350,000 woven storage trunks. This recall was precipitated by an 18-month-old girl who suffered a brain injury after the lid of a trunk fell down on the back of her neck and pinned her throat against the rim. The CPSC says it has reports that two other children have had injuries when trunk lids suddenly closed.

It remains to be seen whether these were just awful fluke accidents or whether this trunk recall is the result of a particular defect in these trunks. But chest and trunks can be dangerous. This is Consumer Reports thoughts on how to protect your children:

Kids naturally want to reach into chests that hold temptations, so it’s safest to store toys and other playthings in uncovered baskets or other containers that allow your child to easily reach inside to pull out what she wants. If you have a toy chest, or any chest, with a free-falling hinged lid, the safest thing to do is remove the lid entirely. Or you can add a lid support that will keep the lid open in any position; heavy lids may require two. Check them frequently to ensure they are in good working order and that they do indeed support the lid; tighten if necessary.

A Walmart jewelry recall? I swear, it sounds made up. But high levels of the toxic metal cadmium have led Walmart to pull its Miley Cyrus line of children's jewelry.

Walmart's reputation has taken a bath recently. This won't help. Walmart reportedly received information about the high cadmium levels in February and did nothing. In April, Walmart said it were testing product not on the shelves but to test items already on the shelves would be "too difficult." Walmart also didn't define the jewelry at risk, saying it was just jewelry for juniors. After the AP reported the story, Walmart flipped and issued a recall of the jewelry.

Are their lawsuits coming here? I doubt it. (And our lawyers are not taking these cases, by the way.) But, geez, doesn't this underscore that we need a strong, vibrant civil justice system to keep these companies in check?

State Farm has the highest market share among California car insurance companies at 12.9 percent, according to 2008 statistics released by the California Department of Insurance. The Automobile Clubs came in second at 8.9% of the California market. Together, these companies collect over $4 billion in insurance premiums in California alone.

The California State Automobile Association garnered third place with 6.8% of the market, followed by Mercury and Allstate. Interesting, GEICO, which is a powerhouse in so many jurisdictions, including Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., has just over 1 percent of the California market.

If you have been injured in a car accident in California and need an accident lawyer, call 800-553-8082 or get a free consultation on line.

MSN provides the average annual premium for car insurance by state. The numbers are provided below.

The numbers are interesting for their relativity but not for their absolute values. Because the numbers are based on a male driving a 2010 vehicle with slightly better than average coverage (100 (per person)/300 (per accident)/50 (property damage). Why not shoot for a more average driver who is not driving a brand new car? These are insurance company statistics and insurance companies want us to read this and say (1) my insurance company is not charging me that much, it must be cheap, and (2) rates are high all over so we must need tort reform to lower car insurance.

With those caveats, here are the numbers:

1 Louisiana $2,510.87

2 Michigan $2,098.29

3 Oklahoma $1,869.39

4 Montana $1,857.96

5 California $1,774.41

6 South Dakota $1,772.83

7 Washington, D.C. $1,753.19

8 Georgia $1,751.42

9 Illinois $1,679.15

10 Connecticut $1,678.90

11 Arkansas $1,648.80

12 New Mexico $1,603.65

13 Rhode Island $1,595.97

14 West Virginia $1,589.69

15 Alaska $1,572.21

16 Wyoming $1,552.98

17 Maryland $1,550.13

18 Kansas $1,524.51

19 Kentucky $1,515.30

20 Colorado $1,480.97

21 Mississippi $1,474.94

22 New Jersey $1,473.73

23 New York $1,463.21

24 Texas $1,462.65

25 Florida $1,453.20

26 Pennsylvania $1,420.78

27 Delaware $1,405.80

28 Missouri $1,390.59

29 Minnesota $1,381.09

30 Alabama $1,380.38

31 North Dakota $1,365.22

32 Hawaii $1,306.97

33 Indiana $1,302.51

34 Nevada $1,282.50

35 Washington $1,279.84

36 Utah $1,234.30

37 Virginia $1,233.36

38 Nebraska $1,210.74

39 Oregon $1,194.69

40 Idaho $1,183.47

41 South Carolina $1,182.18

42 Tennessee $1,170.12

43 Arizona $1,152.50

44 North Carolina $1,130.45

45 Massachusetts $1,043.80

46 Iowa $1,039.04

47 New Hampshire $1,011.23

48 Wisconsin $1,010.93

49 Ohio $999.86

50 Vermont $968.58

51 Maine $902.85

Nissan.issued a recall of 134,215 Infiniti G35 sedans and coups, model years from 2005-2007. The problem is a connector that stops airbags from deploying during a serious car accident. Federal safety officials indicated the problem is the wiring that holds the airbags in place may wear down enough to interrupt the signal to deploy the airbags.

I don't expect a lot of lawsuits from this recall. But can anyone make a decent car anymore? Japanese car manufacturers have been at the forefront of quality for years (note: many of those cars are actually made here and create jobs in the United States). But in the last year, Japanese companies have these companies have really taken a hit. American car companies meanwhile seem to be on a profit and "perception of quality" surge. It seems like yesterday the editorial section of the paper was filled with "let GM fail" diatribes calling President Obama a socialist. Now the U.S. auto industry is booming and watching foreign manufacturers take PR blow after PR blow. Go figure.

Johnson & Johnson/McNeil has issued a recall for Tylenol, Motrin and other over-the-counter children's and infants' liquid products. The recall includes 43 over-the-counter medications for children, mostly liquid medications. The recall comes after an FDA inspection of their facility.

Sure the recall is voluntary but why is it on the heels of an FDA inspection? Don't they inspect their own facility?

Our lawyers have gotten a few calls but I don't suspect there are going to be any viable lawsuits that will come from this recall. Still, it is the third major recall since August for Johnson & Johnson (which owns McNeil) for a problem unrelated to the prior two issues.

I really believe in these kinds of cases the drug companies don't fear lawsuits because the risk of grave injury to the consumer is relatively low. Of course, this does not provide the proper incentives for the drug companies to do the right thing. I know there is a lot of debate on this topic and reasonable minds disagree. But I do believe that plaintiffs' product liability lawyers are a critical component of keeping unsafe drugs off the market because companies fear lawsuits because lawsuits can crush their profits.

There is an interesting article in the University of Illinois Elder Law Journal entitled "Big Brother" and Grandma: An Argument for Video Surveillance in Nursing Homes.

The premise of the article is that video surveillance systems in nursing homes provides additional safety to the nursing home patient and peace-of-mind for family members who have an elderly loved one in a nursing home. The big issue is whether nursing homes are able to refuse care if the family insists on a camera in the patient's room.

Cameras are never the total solution to serious problems in nursing homes that lead to lawsuits. Can they help? Sure. State legislatures should make sure the patients have the right to install cameras in their own rooms. It is fair, it is within their rights as tenants, and it will make patients safer. Nursing homes object largely because they don't like the idea of the evidence that gets accumulated which shows neglect and poor care. The answer to these concerns? Provide better care.

There is a Yamaha recall of over 20,000 Yamaha ATVs according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The recall was precipitated by a problem the Yamaha lawsuits have previously addressed: the steering column support assembly can crack and cause the rider to lose steering control. Yamaha has received 19 reports of incidents involving the recalled ATVs. This number is typically underreported.

This Yamaha recall involves the non-power steering models. The following model numbers are affected by this recall:

Grizzly 550:

• Model 2009, Model Numbers: YFM550FGHY, YFM550FGY

• Model 2010, Model Numbers: YFM550FGHZ, YFM550FGZ

Grizzly 700:

• Model 2008, Model Numbers: YFM700FGHX, YFM700FGX

• Model 2009, Model Numbers: YFM700FGHY, YFM700FGY

• Model Year 2010, Model Numbers: YFM700FGHZ, YFM700FGZ

The CPSC is advising riders of Yamahas subject to this AVT recall to stop using the recalled ATVs and contact their local Yamaha dealer to schedule a free repair.

This recall is yet another sign to Yamaha that they have to do something with their ATVs. They are not safe and more people are going to get killed until they design a better product. ATVs are dangerous enough when they are properly designed.

If you or someone you love has suffered a serious injury or death in a Yamaha Rhino ATV, we want to help you. Our product liability lawyers are handling Yamaha Rhino ATV rollover cases in serious injury and death cases across the country. Call us for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Internet consultation.